BofA Upgrades Rating, Price Objective for Lloyds Banking Group on Premier Deposit Edge

02:39 AM EDT, 09/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- BofA Global Research raised its rating and price objective for Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L), saying the British lender is "best placed" to take advantage of demand in the premier deposit market. "We revisited the data from 2023, the last time deposit competition was particularly intense in the sector. Clearly the context is different, as competition now is more driven by growth instead of mix shift, however, Lloyds' experience in 2023 does indicate a [higher-quality] deposit franchise. Lloyds saw less outflow than peers in 2023, and was able to maintain most of the deposit migration within its franchise," according to a note focused on UK banks published Tuesday. "In the current environment where the competition is likely to be concentrated in mass affluent/ Premier, we also think Lloyds also has a competitive advantage given its wider product offering, which in turn creates more potential for [cross-selling] and fee income growth," BofA wrote. Against this backdrop, the research firm upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and increased its price objective to 1.40 pounds sterling from 1.30 pounds.